Poll who has a generator?

[slip knot]

I've got a couple of older Onans. the Miller is also generator as well as a welder. if I need a lot of power, I'll go to work. We run a 750K unit for standby power there. but at 40 gallons/hour we don't run it too much. a few hours a month to exercise it.

 

[Dr Stan]

Lived in Kearney NE for a few years, where the Coleman generator & power washers are made. Picked up a 5500 run 6K peak Powermate at a warehouse sale for 1/2 retail. Has a Tecumseh 10hp engine so parts are non-extant, cannot even get a air filter. Ended up making a new filter mount so I can use a Briggs filter.

In any case it runs beautifully and I've preferred Tecumseh over BG for a long time. If I let it set too long between start ups a shot of ether does the trick.

This spring I need to get busy & install the manual switch. I've tripped the main & back fed a couple of circuits keeping the frig, furnace (nat gas) and some lights on.

I also have gas logs in the fireplace for backup heat.

 

[stioc]

Like other SoCal posters I don't see much of a need here except when a few years ago we lost power several times in a row. One of the neighbors had a 5k generator so several neigbors got long extension cords to power their fridges. The next day I picked up the little 800-watt generator from HF for $100 which was enough to power the fridge, a couple of 40w lights and the router/laptop. It wasn't luxury but it sure felt like it. I still have the generator but haven't needed it since. It's small and inexpensive so don't mind hanging on to it. It might come in handy if I ever decided to build a remote vacation cabin etc in the future lol

 

[Jbullfrog]

I have a Miller Trailblazer 325 welder. 11,000watt that handles all of our house and the shop heat and fridge also.

 

[metaldad]

bought the last unit at the orange box during a power outage ten years ago.
7500w coleman.
i have used it about 10 times during outages.

 

[txvwnut]

For about two years we lost power on a regular basis, for no reason at. Nice sunny day power loss. Big booming thunderstorm with high winds and such power stays on. No rhyme or reason to it. Bought a generator and now we rarely loose power but when we do I've got a backup.

So I say get one just to be safe.

 

[doorfx]

If my power goes out it's cold enough to freeze to death. 1 Honda 3000w inverter and 2 champion 2000w inverters that can be paralleled or run individually.

 

[kctyphoon]

I have a 7,250 watt ETQ at home, a 6,500 watt Honda on a truck at work..
The Honda is quieter, easier to start - but the carb fouls out from intermittent use just like the ETQ does..

After Sandy I swore I'd never go through that again, and started searching for a whole house natural gas generator.. almost bought a 12kw Generac from Costco.. then I started reading about all the nightmare stories - people paying $5,000 to $10,000 on a Generac that was fine for the ocassional few hours, or day here and there when the power died. But then, when Sandy hit and people were without power for 3 weeks, ALOT of those people had their generators die within the first week of constant use.. so their now "out of warranty" generator needs a repair man - you wait for that, then he has to order parts, you wait for that, then you have to wait for the repair guy to come back - which is what everyone else was doing too -, and then finally 2 or 3 weeks later, your power is back on, and you get handed a $1500 repair bill to fix a generator that you couldn't use when you needed it most.

So instead - I have a $700 portable unit that'll do my whole house except my central air, or my central air and maybe a few other things.. if it lasts a few weeks and dies - I got my money's worth and I'll go buy another.. I bought a $200 tri fuel kit for it from USCARB.COM ( that I'm installing finally with my new carb)

For anyone considering a whole house unit - buy a Kohler over a Generac. I couldn't find one in 12kw for under $4000 at the time so I passed.. spend a few hours reading online, and you'll find out why I say get a Kohler..

 

[FreedomPenguin]

8kw generac whole house, auto transfer, natural gas.

 

[Spdfreak91]

Honda EU2000i for me I call it my little lunchbox, fridge, pellet stove,tv and a cord for my light. Doubles for cookout beer pong Flood lights in the middle of the yard. nice and quiet.

 

[ken w.]

I actually have 3 generators. I have 2 2.5kw. One is a Coleman with a Tecumesh engine and the other with a Briggs engine. Both start on the first or second pull. The other one is a Canadian military generator that was given to me. It has an Onan engine that hasn't run since a war. I have not gotten this one running yet. They aren't the biggest , but will keep my house warm and my fridge cold.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Yes, 3,750watt.
Bought it used, while camping, because we heard they had power out back at home, and we would need it.

Used a couple of times. Need to get cable and generator interlock setup.

Fixed it for you !

 

[FMC1959]

I don't really think a 5kW is a "monster".

I agree, if it is portable, definitely not a monster.

40KW Onan on Natural Gas for me. On a well with a Septic System and lift station back-up power makes for a happy Wife.

Anything like this, that can power an entire, this is more what I would consider a monster.

I have a 5.6kw Wacker (Neuson). It has done what I have needed, power a couple of important items during power failures. A large whole house generator was the plan for many years, probably won't happen at this point.

 

[Richard Cranium]

some where out in the garage, is a little 400 watt, It was given to me, The guy couldn't make it run right, He sent it back to the company twice and they would send it back saying it has no problems. I brought it home and started it and it ran really bad. I then plugged a light in to it, and it smoothed right out. You have to have some thing plugged in to it to make it run right. It needs a load.

 

[rharman]

Generac 1500w. Came in real handy when a transformer blew on the pole next to our house a few years ago. Hottest friggin' 2-3 days of the year at the time. Kept my refrigerator going along with a TV and some lights. Not all at the same time though.

Bought it probably 25 years ago and have used it about 5-6 times.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

I own 2 trusty Honda EU2000i's, one was my a/c companion during time impacted by Katrina, the other is sitting in its box, never started, keep it just in case, since I can parallel these, since we live on the Gulf Coast in hurricane central.

 

[G-ManBart]

I have a 7,250 watt ETQ at home, a 6,500 watt Honda on a truck at work..
The Honda is quieter, easier to start - but the carb fouls out from intermittent use just like the ETQ does..

After Sandy I swore I'd never go through that again, and started searching for a whole house natural gas generator.. almost bought a 12kw Generac from Costco.. then I started reading about all the nightmare stories - people paying $5,000 to $10,000 on a Generac that was fine for the ocassional few hours, or day here and there when the power died. But then, when Sandy hit and people were without power for 3 weeks, ALOT of those people had their generators die within the first week of constant use.. so their now "out of warranty" generator needs a repair man - you wait for that, then he has to order parts, you wait for that, then you have to wait for the repair guy to come back - which is what everyone else was doing too -, and then finally 2 or 3 weeks later, your power is back on, and you get handed a $1500 repair bill to fix a generator that you couldn't use when you needed it most.

So instead - I have a $700 portable unit that'll do my whole house except my central air, or my central air and maybe a few other things.. if it lasts a few weeks and dies - I got my money's worth and I'll go buy another.. I bought a $200 tri fuel kit for it from USCARB.COM ( that I'm installing finally with my new carb)

For anyone considering a whole house unit - buy a Kohler over a Generac. I couldn't find one in 12kw for under $4000 at the time so I passed.. spend a few hours reading online, and you'll find out why I say get a Kohler..

Yeah, disagree 100% on the Kohler over Generac, and I did all the reading you suggest....researched them for over a year. I had plenty of time to pick, and wasn't impressed at all with the Kohler ratings.

Fact is, there are more Generac whole-house units out there than there are Kohler, by a long shot, so they will have more problems/failures.

None of the units you're talking about is designed to run non-stop for days on end of constant use, but the chances that all of the failed units had the oil checked every 24hours of operation, and oil/filter changed every 8 days during Sandy is beyond unlikely. It's also very unlikely that all of those failed units were in perfect working order before the storm hit.

There isn't an air-cooled whole-house unit made that's intended to be a prime power provider for weeks on end. You need liquid cooled, and usually diesel to withstand that sort of duty cycle. Sandy was an extreme situation that pushed normal units beyond what they were intended for.

This is a topic that always winds up being an argument every time it comes up on a forum....the boatloads of people who are happy Generac owners and the folks who complain about them, but don't own one.

If someone wants to prepare for Sandy, they shouldn't be looking at air-cooled generators....plain and simple. For the rest of us, we expect half a day here, maybe a day there, and usually a few hours at a time on generator. My next house will have a diesel standby system with a huge tank....but it won't be cheap.

 

[bassbone52]

I have a new harbor Freight 4000 watt. It works great, is good on gas and my PC likes it. I run everything in the house that uses 120 volts.

I've also gotten good service from this unit. Sump pump, two refrigerators and the modem/TV are all that I try to power. Recommend running any home generator through a transfer switch.

 

[red61cj5]

Ive got a Generac 10k stand by that runs off natural gas directly from the well head, also have a "portable" 8500 watt Chinese "DEK" is the name. For what its worth I'm happy with my generac, the dealer, not so much. He likes to adjust valves, at 30 hours, because its the one thing he can charge for while under warranty. Then he tells me its because of the weather. I asked him if it should be indoors?

 

[DWise]

I have had my 12K generac for about 12 years and have been without power many times. the longest was 8 days, several 4 days and many 1 days. They do use oil and I check and add oil every day it is running. The only parts that have been replaced are spark plugs, oil and filter and the battery. It runs everything in the house except 240 volt range, AC, and swimming pool pump.

 

[bushmechanic]

I've got a Yamaha EF2000iS:

It's built incredibly well in all aspects, starts with a twitch, runs extremely quietly, and is bafflingly fuel efficient. It's full of thoughtful design choices inside and out, and there's a big fat "Made in Japan" sticker right on the box.

Yamaha doesn't screw around.

 

[Jazz1]

I've got a Yamaha EF2000iS:

It's built incredibly well in all aspects, starts with a twitch, runs extremely quietly, and is bafflingly fuel efficient. It's full of thoughtful design choices inside and out, and there's a big fat "Made in Japan" sticker right on the box.

Yamaha doesn't screw around.

I would not be surprised if the Yamaha are the quietest built,,they truly are amazing compared to my old rigs

 

[BUDSVTX]

I have the big generator from Sam's. Converted it to trifuel, gasoline, propane, natural gas. Runs everything but the central A/C. Bought a small window unit that I install in the beginning of hurricane season, close off most of the house and cool the kitchen and 1 bedroom. Been through several hurricanes and have never lost natural gas for a hurricane. I like it because it is on wheels, put it in my shop, no big box on the side of the house. Manufactories don't understand that during a hurricane, no one has power, can't get gasoline anywhere close to your home. You must drive at least 75 miles to find a place that has power to pump gas. Then you wait in line to get to the pump and all you are allowed to get is 15 gallons total. You fill your truck, then look for another station, wait in line again to fill your gas cans for the generator. I will not wait in line to get gasoline.

Also have a 5000KW Onan with a 4 pole generator, nice and slow 1800 RPM, 2 cylinder, cast iron, HEAVY, and it is also set up to run natural gas/propane. I made a dolly for it, so it is portable also.

BUD

 

[JerryC]

I have a new harbor Freight 4000 watt. It works great, is good on gas and my PC likes it. I run everything in the house that uses 120 volts.

I have one that is about 3 years old, only knock I have on it is that it is loud.

 

[ptschram]

I live rural.

At one point, I had seven engine driven generators!

 

[ScottsGT]

I just inherited one from moving my mom out of her home into a retirement apartment. It was purchased back in '89 after Hugo hit Charleston. Its a 4000W and I think it has only been run once or twice since then.
I really have no use for it, but damned if I was going to let it go away to unappreciative family or the scrap guy.

 

[GSteg]

I don't really think a 5kW is a "monster".

Remember, he (and I) are in southern California where very few outages occurs. 5kW is a monster to us.

I have a Honda EU2000i, but I've only used it once since I bought it new 3-4 years ago.

 

[kwschumm]

Years ago Generac made a stupid decision to use some plastic parts in critical areas (bearing ends IIRC) and those things always failed. They have since gone away from that problematic design and they are supposedly much, much better. But the bad rep has not gone away.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

I work on them every day, but don't own one.

Years ago Generac made a stupid decision to use some plastic parts in critical areas (bearing ends IIRC) and those things always failed. They have since gone away from that problematic design and they are supposedly much, much better. But the bad rep has not gone away.

The current air cooled Generac production are pretty terrible. We do a LOT of warranty work on Chinese engines that drop a valve, throw a rod through the block, don't shutdown on low oil during a long outage, or have a main seal go and empty the crankcase into the pan in less than a year of exercising. Also collecting a box of Nexus controllers that have been garbage from the factory for a variety of issues (the "all the eggs in one basket" problem). The last great models were the 2nd gens in the boxier tan cans in my experience.

 

[Bob-B]

I have an older (15+ years old) Generac 6500W.

 

[48RON54]

Years ago Generac made a stupid decision to use some plastic parts in critical areas (bearing ends IIRC) and those things always failed. They have since gone away from that problematic design and they are supposedly much, much better. But the bad rep has not gone away.

Generac has a terrible rep in the industry period. Whether their product has improved at all in the last several years I don't know as I don't deal with them as much as I used to. On the industrial side, Generac is bid spec stuff. They have a horrible rep in the industry and I doubt it will ever go away. I haven't ever heard anyone in the generator industry speak fondly of Generac.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I have a 5KW Husky from HomeDepot, with a Subaru engine. Purchased it about five or so years ago, we had a real early snowstorm in October that took out power for close to a week. I have it back feeding into the box with an interlock on the breaker. It runs everything in the house, just not all at once. As long as you are smart about using the power 5KW is plenty. If you are running the electric range, don't start the dryer. The generator has a 20 amp breaker on it and it has never popped. I do fire it up every three month or so and plug in a 1500W electric heater and let it run for twenty minutes or so. I had an old Coleman with a Briggs and like others have said it would burn plenty of oil, The Subaru engine can run for three to four days straight and not burn any oil.

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

My brother has a 20kw that is fully auto for the farm, unfortunately it is not hooked up to the house meter but since the well is off the barn meter he has running water at least. Heat is not an issue, the farm house has a wood stove, he has a little genny for comfort items like internet and TV.

My house has a hookup for a smaller genny, but I have yet to find a decent one used, or had the money to buy a new one, planning on it in the near future cuz we live at the end of the line.

 

[JAKE-THE-TOOL-MAN]

I have a small Honda, works great for my needs.

 

[Banjorear]

I have a Generac GP7500E. Serves my needs just fine, it's wired up to power the whole house.

Me too...

 

[greenlizard]

I have a 3500 watt Honda welder/generator. It's probably twenty years old, runs perfectly. Made to run all day and sips gas. I love having the portable dc welder available.

 

[oldtools]

2 Honda EU2000i

 

[wxm]

Got 5500w generac, used once during the hurricane sandy... drove the water heater, refrige, cell phone. Worth every penny.

 

[Danglerb]

SoCal what we have is wind. Two or three times a year we get Santa Ana winds from the NE, and when those 14,400 volt lines start to swing eventually two of them get too close and boom it knocks out breakers and starts a chain reaction. Outage can be less than a second, flicker or lights or PC reboots, up to maybe half hour tops.

Big outage this year was from planed upgrades to underground vaults and transformers that shut down power for two to three when it started and another two to three a couple weeks later to finish it.

We didn't use anything either time because we didn't think it would last that long or maybe just didn't think. We lost a fridge full of food, and we could have run an extension cord from the little 400/800w Cobra inverter off a car battery.

The Honda 1000w units are gold around here, swap meet people love them.

What I am thinking seriously on is to revive some of the small 200w UPS systems we have just to get rid of all the smaller power blips to reduce the chance of data corruption.

 

[Firebrand]

Being up on a hill out in the woods of NH, generators are like pants--better to have 'em and not need then than to want and not have! I've got two, both 12.5kw. One is a 3 point hitch mounted PTO unit for tractor power and the other is a military diesel unit.

Belt and suspenders! My father's expression for many things.